


Home for the Holidays

by adevinecomedy



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, Home for Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adevinecomedy/pseuds/adevinecomedy
Summary: “Come with me then.” The sentence was said so quietly that it could have been missed in a ruffle of fabric, or a car passing by outside.“What…?” The shock that coursed through his body was enough to completely throw off any sort of witty come back or quip he might have had.A modern au where Geralt brings Jaskier home for the holidays.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 4
Kudos: 123
Collections: Geraskier Holiday Exchange 2020





	Home for the Holidays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [happinessfordeeppeople (Aura0190)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aura0190/gifts).



> Happy Holidays all! I decided to take part in a bit of a holiday exchange this year, and it was such a fun time! 
> 
> Please enjoy this little bit of Geraskier fluff written for happinessfordeeppeople for the geraskier holiday exchange :)
> 
> Thank you muchly to Locktea for beta-ing for me <3

The weather was beginning to turn cold and soon it would be time for Geralt to fly back to his family as he did every year. Jaskier was bracing himself for the emotional fallout of missing his lover through another long holiday season in their sometimes shared flat in the city. It was actually Jaskier’s flat, but he was more than happy to share and keep Geralt close when he was in town. Geralt usually came out for work and stayed over most of the year, and then flew back home to catch up with his family and his adopted daughter over the winter months. The company he worked for gave Geralt a place to stay in town, but as far as Jaskier knew, it stayed empty the entire time he was in the city. 

Geralt was in the bedroom, finishing packing up his things whilst Jaskier lent on the doorframe watching him. This was always the worst part each year, those moments where he was still here but the air hung heavy with the knowledge that the minutes were ticking down to having to say goodbye. Every year since they started seeing each other had gotten harder, these moments seeming to tick off the clock with ever increasing speed. There was simply never enough time together, and the time apart was agonizingly long.

“I can’t believe it’s already time for you to go back, this year just flew.” Jaskier said with a small tone of melancholy in his voice.

“Mmm, it did seem to just fly by, but that’s what happens when you're enjoying yourself right?” Geralt crossed the room, pulling Jaskier into a hug and giving him a peck on the cheek. “Miss me already?”

“Unfair, you know I do, silly Wolf. What a question to even ask.” Jaskier playfully chided as he leaned in to the embrace.

“Come with me then.” The sentence was said so quietly that it could have been missed in a ruffle of fabric, or a car passing by outside.

“What…?” The shock that coursed through his body was enough to completely throw off any sort of witty come back or quip he might have had.

“Come home with me to the ranch, I know you’ve been wanting to meet my family, and well… it’s really a long overdue visit isn’t it?” Geralt held Jaskier tighter to his chest as he spoke, almost as if he was afraid the other man would evaporate into the air.

“Yes, well, ok. I’d love to come with you. But what about a plane ticket? And packing? Your flight leaves in a few hours!” The distress of the realization rang through Jaskier’s voice as he began to frantically move about the room looking for items to gather to take with him.

Geralt gave a sheepish look and pulled out a second suitcase with a ticket laid under the handle. 

“You sly dog, you were going to ask me this whole time weren’t you?”

“Well, I was really hoping that you would agree to come along, otherwise I’d have to find someone else to donate this ticket to.” He chuckled quietly.

“Please tell me that that's everything, and that I won't suddenly get to a ranch in the middle of nowhere and be missing my phone charger, or something else not easily replaceable when we’re all snowed in and bundled up.”

“Should be everything, but you do have some time to check. The car will be here in an hour to take us to the terminal.”

“You really do think of everything, don't you my darling Wolf?” Jaskier planted another quick peck on Geralt's cheek before he went about checking his luggage for all of his necessities.

***

The airport was crowded and chaotic, but Jaskier supposed that's how it always was around the holidays. People scurrying about here and there, trying to get to terminals, flight plans changing, flights cancelled due to the weather at their destinations being bad. He sat nestled up against Geralt and scrolled through the feed on his phone, seeing what his friends had planned for their holiday season. 

He was glad that he could go with Geralt this year, it wasn’t like his family would miss him anyways. He hadn’t been home in ages and only occasionally heard from his sister, usually the briefest of updates on their parent’s health and how the family business was running. It was all for the better though, he was much happier now exactly where he is.

“You alright sweetheart?” Geralt had caught him lost in his thoughts, paused in his scrolling on his phone. 

“Mmm… Just thinking about my family, if you could even really call them that.” Jaskier trailed off as he tried to shake himself loose of his thoughts. 

Geralt leaned in and stroked his hand against the nape of Jaskier’s neck massaging the muscles he found there. 

“Would hearing about what to expect when we get to the ranch help? I know we haven’t talked much about my family, so I could tell you about them?”

“That would be nice, yes, thank you.” Jaskier gave Geralt a small smile as he turned his attention completely to the other man. 

Geralt quietly explained his family to Jaskier, names relationships and who else would likely be coming to the ranch for the holiday celebrations. Jaskier took note of names and did his best to remember descriptions as his head began to spin with information overload. Just as he thought he was getting all of the information down, the gate attendant started calling for groups to begin boarding.

As soon as they were settled into the plane, it seemed like they were landing again and making their way to pick up their luggage. The flight flew by as Jaskier did his best to remember the little details Geralt had imparted during their time in the air. 

They paused by the luggage carousel while Geralt checked his phone for messages to see who would be coming to get them for the long drive back to the ranch. Apparently it would be Eskel that would pick them up. Jaskier had heard a lot about Geralt’s brothers and their adoptive father at this point, but not much about where they would be going itself.

He took to fidgeting with his phone as they waited for the luggage to come out, he had never met these people before and what if they didn’t like him? What if this was the last he saw of Geralt because his family hated him and Geralt saw the sense in that and didn’t want to see him anymore? What if…

Jaskier found himself swept up in a pair of strong arms and held fast. “You’re thinking too loud, don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll all love you just as much as I do. Gods know they’ve heard enough about you over the years.” Geralt placed a small kiss on Jaskier's temple, which helped to calm him further. There was no need to worry, if Geralt’s family disapproved, he likely would have heard about it ages ago. With a little nod, Jaskier squared his shoulders and continued his wait with much less fidgeting now that his Wolf had him wrapped in his embrace.

They gathered their luggage and made their way to the curb to wait for Eskel to come and collect them. In no time at all, an old beat up truck pulled up to the curb and stopped.

“This is us.” Geralt murmured against Jaskier’s ear as he pulled him towards the vehicle. Suitcases were promptly chucked into the bed, and Geralt was pulling open the door of the cab. 

“Glad to see you made it back this year!” the person Jaskier could only but conclude was Eskel exclaimed warmly as Geralt slid into the worn bench seat and embraced his brother. 

“Of course, wouldn’t miss a chance to come back home and have a break from the working world. This is Jaskier, he’ll be staying with us as my guest.” Geralt wrapped his arm around Jaskier as he settled himself in the seat. 

He gave a little wave to Eskel who was leaning around Geralt to be seen. “Hello, nice to meet you!”

Eskel gave him a smile and a nod as he started the car up. “The roads have been a bit of a mess, so I hope you two are ready to settle in for a long drive back.”

“How’s the ranch doing? If the roads are bad, hopefully the ranch isn’t in too bad of a state.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Lambert stayed through the year and Vesemir has been running us both ragged keeping up with repairs. You know how he gets.”

The two fell into a comfortable banter back and forth about how the year had been, new happenings at the ranch since Geralt’s last visit, how Geralt’s business was going, and how Ciri was doing in her classes. The quiet humming conversation of the two and the long stretch of straight easy road lulled Jaskier into a calm sleep. 

***

As the car began to slow to a halt, Jaskier roused from his gentle nap. The building came into focus through his bleary sleep heavy eyes as he took in the surroundings of where they had arrived. The ranch was a run down place with obvious repairs and areas that were left to fall apart or that they hadn’t gotten around to fixing yet. The main house was simple and kept in good condition to Jaskier’s eyes. The conversation Geralt and Eskel were having was a warm quiet murmur in the background of the truck cab, keeping Jaskier grounded in his sleepy and warm state. 

“Time to get up sweetheart.” Geralt pressed a warm kiss to his forehead. 

“Mmph, don’t wanna, warm.” Jaskier muttered out while cuddling closer under the coat he was using as a blanket.

Geralt gave a soft chuckle as he slid out of the truck in the same direction Eskel was going. They both apparently made quick work of unloading the bags, because far too soon Geralt was pulling open Jaskier’s side of the cab door and pulling him into the cold. 

Quick as could be, Jaskier was whisked into the warmth of the large farm house and the sounds of greetings floated through the foyer. 

“Dad! You made it, and you managed to get Jaskier to come along!” Ciri greeted with a smile.

“Good to see you Ciri, how’s school going?” Geralt said as he pulled the young woman into a tight hug.

“Fine, fine. Go unpack your stuff, Uncle Vesemir is just finishing up dinner, and Uncle Lambert might be trying to burn the kitchen down.” 

“Alright, alright, better get back in there and lend a hand then. You know how Lambert gets when he’s even the least bit unsupervised.” Geralt moved to gather up their bags and headed for the stairs. 

Eskel waved them both off and followed Ciri into the kitchen to the sounds of a few bottles crashing together. Jaskier turned and followed Geralt up the stairs like a lost puppy unsure of what to do with himself.

“Ciri looks like she’s been doing well, so where are we staying?”

“My room, I may not stay here often, but Vesemir is kind enough to keep a room for me for when I do pass this way. Or at least for the holidays.” Geralt shouldered through a door at the end of the hall.

Jaskier followed him into the spacious room and noted the attached bathroom with a small note of surprise.

“This is practically as big as my entire apartment. Why would you ever bother leaving when you have this much space to yourself?”

“Work mostly, and shockingly I do like spending time with you, small flat or not.” Geralt turned and caught Jaskier about the hips and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Hmm, well, I’m glad that you find my company so appealing.” He gave a peck to Geralt's nose and a wink before escaping his embrace and began to unpack his bag. 

“You can unpack later, come down to dinner. I’m sure Vesemir has made something warm and filling for everyone.” 

“All right, I am a bit hungry after all the travel and excitement today.”

Geralt met his eyes with a smile and backed his way out of the door as Jaskier followed. The scent of the meal wafted up the stairs and filled the entire house. A sudden crashing sound from the direction of the kitchen caused the pair to hurry their way to the kitchen where they found Lambert covered from head to toe in flour. 

“What happened?” Jaskier gasped, taking in the scene with Eskel and Vesemir chuckling quietly off to the side of the scene of disaster in front of him. 

“...My hand slipped…” Lambert ground out, seemingly frozen to the spot.

A loud guffaw came from the direction of the opposite doorway. “That’s a bit of an understatement.”

“Shut up Aiden, you’re no better when it comes to helping with chores.” 

The admonishment was met with a shrug from the man leaning against the door jamb. “You want my help or not?” 

Lambert let out a grunt and the man identified as Aiden moved to help clean up the mess. 

Vesemir waved Geralt and Jaskier over. “Don’t mind them, dinner’s fine and ready. Come grab some plates.”

They quickly grabbed some plates and piled them high with the offerings on the table. Who was to know how hungry travel makes you? Certainly not Jaskier as he began eating as though he hadn’t in weeks. The food was delicious and he was sure to compliment the dishes as he ate both to be polite and in hopes for getting into Geralt’s family's good graces. 

The conversation struck up around them, friendly nudges and mirth filled the space. Jaskier couldn’t help but cuddle into Geralt's shoulder as they chatted with his family around him. He felt warm and safe, like this was where he was really meant to be.

Geralt leant in to Jaskier softly whispering, “Doing alright?”

Jaskier gave him a nod and a warm smile. Eskel was laughing at something Ciri had said across the table, Lambert and Aiden were bickering lovingly at one another, and Vesemir was taking in his family gathered around him. Everyone had returned safe and happy for the winter season. Jaskier couldn’t feel more like he belonged even if he tried. 

Perhaps this would be the best holiday season he had ever had with this new found family.


End file.
